Dream On (Dreamer)
by Killaurey
Summary: [COMPLETE] It really was too bad that prescient dreams didn't come with a guidebook. AU. KakaSaku.
1. Part I

**Title:** Dream On (Dreamer), Part I  
**Rating:** T  
**Words:** 12, 210 (5,900~ in this post)  
**Summary:** It really was too bad that prescient dreams didn't come with a guidebook. AU. KakaSaku.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_. Kishi does.  
**Notes:** This fic fills **hukomuyo**'s prompt for Wishlist 2012. It also fills the "planet destruction" square on my Hurt/Comfort Bingo card, the "safe" square on my Cotton Candy Bingo card, and the "matchmaker" square on my Trope Bingo card.

* * *

"Mom, why do we dream?"

Haruno Miki smiled down at her five year old daughter. "So that we can put things to right," she said. "Have you been dreaming, Sakura?"

"Sometimes."

"Do you know what you're going to do about them?"

Sakura regarded her solemnly. "Not yet," she said. "I think I'm missing the pieces to my puzzles."

Miki smoothed Sakura's hair away from her brow. "You'll find them."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

"Mom?"

Haruno Miki looked up from the dishes. Sakura was twelve and slumped at the kitchen table. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"Why are all our dreams about changing the world?" Sakura asked, her voice flat and brittle-the way it had been since her team fell apart.

"Because the world changes in many ways," Miki said quietly, rinsing out a glass.

"I can't change the world," Sakura said.

Miki hated that her daughter could say that and believe it. It was wrong. She _could_. Miki had faith where Sakura didn't.

Arguing that, right now, when she was still reeling wouldn't help. Instead, Miki asked, "What do you consider to be the world?"

Silence answered her and Miki knew without looking that her daughter was staring at her.

"The world's the world, Mom."

"You're thinking too large," Miki chided very gently. "You're thinking of _the_ world. The dreams are meant for _your_ world."

"But they're so big-"

"Of course they're big," Miki interrupted, ignoring her daughter's grumble. "Everyone's world revolves around themselves, you see? How could your dreams, your world, be anything _but_ big in your eyes?"

"I'm going for a shower!" Sakura announced abruptly, the scrape of her chair a sharp sound in the kitchen.

Miki smiled slightly. That had gone better than she'd thought it would.

* * *

"Mom?" Sakura said, twenty-three and a Jounin, and standing at the door.

"What are you knocking for?" Haruno Miki asked, reaching to tuck a bit of fly away hair behind one of Sakura's ears. "You can come in any time. It's your home too."

"I've moved out."

"That doesn't matter."

Sakura laughed softly, the sound like music to Miki's ears, and followed her inside.

"Mom," Sakura said, after they've had tea and exhausted the small talk of the village being reconstructed after the war. "I think I've got my dream figured out."

"Oh?"

Sakura nodded. "The only problem is that I need to get Kakashi and Ino to get along."

Miki took a long swallow of her third cup of tea. Ino-chan was a brilliant kunoichi and an even better friend to Sakura. Kakashi-kun was a Jounin with an impressive record-and the man Sakura was happily engaged to.

They loathed each other.

"That's going to be difficult."

Sakura grimaced. "I know," she said, her heart in her eyes, "but Mom, they're my world."

Miki set her tea down, stood up, and pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "Then you'll work it out," she said. "You're part of their worlds too."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

"No." Ino's voice was flat and uncompromising.

Sakura wrapped her mom's assurance around her like a blanket and forged on. _This would be okay._

"I know that you don't get along," Sakura said, trying to sound practical and not wheedling. Ino, despite her tendency towards well-executed histrionics preferred the practical from other people. "I'm not asking you to be best friends or for you to love him."

Ino raised one elegant eyebrow as if to say, well, _as if_.

"I just want you to talk to him." Sakura pressed on. "Clear the air. Please? For me?"

Then she waited. Pushing Ino into a corner was the fastest way to get her to refuse.

Eventually, Ino sighed. "When?"

Sakura hugged her. "I'll let you know. Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

* * *

With Kakashi, Sakura took a different route. Ino worked better with time to make up her own mind once the matter was neatly laid out.

Kakashi worked better when given incentive.

"No sex," Sakura announced abruptly.

Kakashi paused, looking up from sharpening his kunai quizzically.

"That's the new law—until you talk to Ino," Sakura clarified. "This apartment is now a no-sex zone."

"I could make you change your mind," he said, his voice low and deep, which sent a pleasurable shiver down her spine.

He probably _could_ change her mind.

"You won't though," Sakura said with simple confidence. "You respect me and love me too much for that."

Kakashi just looked at her for a long moment. "You drive a hard bargain," he said, heaving a sigh. "Can we start enforcing this rule tomorrow?"

She was tempted, so tempted, to put it off for a day.

"No," she said. "I need this more than I need that."

He made a face at her.

"Tomorrow?" she said. "At nine? Does that work for you?"

"No," Kakashi said. "But you're going to make it for then anyway."

He was right. She did.

* * *

"Mom?" Sakura said. "I'm going to _die_ waiting to hear how it turns out."

"No you're not," Miki said with a laugh. "You'll be alright."

Sakura muttered something that sounded like she totally wasn't sure of that. Miki pretended she didn't hear.

"What if they kill each other?"

"They won't," Miki replied placidly. "They both know that would hurt you. You have to have faith in them, Sakura. Isn't that why you're with me today instead of listening to them?"

Sakura looked deeply torn. "No," she said slowly. "Well, not entirely. I think they need to do it themselves for my dream to work itself out."

"Then wait and see."

Sakura sighed, closed her eyes, and rested her head on the table.

Miki smoothed back Sakura's hair comfortingly.

Waiting games were always the hardest. The worst part was that she had so much practice.

* * *

Kakashi entered the private room of Sakura's favourite tea house gingerly, like he was worried it would blow up, and was unsurprised to find that Ino was already there.

The first one in had the appearance of power. He knew it and she knew it.

_I really can't stand her._

The mirrored thought lurked in her eyes as she watched him with an unsmiling face. Kakashi shut the door behind him and approached the table.

"Yo," he said, folding his legs under him as he took a seat opposite of Ino.

Silence, awkward and stifling settled around them.

They were supposed to try to talk to one another. Where were they even supposed to start? Kakashi studied the oak panelling of the walls, the painted table, and the light that dangled over them.

The room was pretty empty.

"Sakura had them remove the decorations," Ino said flatly. "As if either of us would lack for weapons."

It was a gesture though. Kakashi understood that.

He suspected that Ino understood it as well.

Sakura trusted them enough to leave them alone. She didn't trust them to not kill each other. That was her way of reminding them to not do so.

"This means a lot to Sakura." He kept his voice utterly neutral.

Ino's eyes flashed. "Got that," she said, like it was the most obvious thing ever.

Kakashi conceded that it probably was. This was not him at his best. "We're supposed to talk," he continued doggedly.

"We are."

"For a certain value of 'talking'," he drawled.

Something almost like a smile crinkled around Ino's eyes for a split second before disappearing. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he'd amused her.

Was that a good or a bad sign?

Ino raised her eyebrows. "Do _you_ know where to start?"

Put that way, Kakashi had to concede that maybe snarking and sniping at each other actually could be considered progress of a sort. It was more than just sitting in stony silence.

"This isn't going to help," he said, the words slipping out as they realized. "It's just not."

"I knew that."

But they'd both gone along with it for Sakura.

Kakashi felt the first stirrings of a headache. They had to do something-if only for Sakura's sake. Personally, he was rather content to despise Ino until the end of the world and would be deeply surprised if it was any different on Ino's side.

That was one thing they had in common then: they both loved Sakura.

"Let's go spar," Kakashi said, getting up.

Ino tilted her head at him. "I'll be going for the kill."

He nodded. "So will I."

* * *

Sakura shouted at both of them until she cried when she found them six hours later.

Kakashi had fourteen broken bones and his head felt like it had been beaten into a tree-because that was exactly what had happened. But he was still on his feet.

Ino was sitting down, green chakra coating her hands as she ignored the both of them to heal her own injuries, which Kakashi took vicious satisfaction in knowing were just as bad as his.

Neither of them are dead. They'd kept their word to Sakura.

Not that she seemed to see it that way.

Sakura healed him grudgingly, raking him over the coals the entire time she did so, then stomped over to check Ino's work.

Maybe it's the blood-loss but, as Sakura dragged him off, Kakashi called back over his shoulder, "Same time next week?"

Ino's answering laugh was scornful.

But _not_ a no.

* * *

They don't get to spar again.

Sakura laid the law down and Kakashi was disgusted to realize that both he and Ino were grudgingly willing to abide by her rules. No sparring.

Which was why, the next week, when they were both back at the tea house, they had absolutely nothing to talk about.

Kakashi felt like laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

Ino looked bored out of her mind as she maintained an empty silence.

He made it through two cups of tea before she spoke.

"Remind me," said Ino, "did Sakura say we have to stay here?"

Kakashi looked at her balefully. "Yes," he said. "We're not allowed to leave. We're not allowed to hit each other. We're not allowed to poison, threaten, maim or injure each other." He paused and considered the list. "She didn't say we couldn't yell at each other."

Ino wrinkled her nose. "She _so_ doesn't trust us."

He knew there was a reason for that, given that they had tried to kill each other last week, but the fact that Sakura doesn't trust them still irked him.

"What about video games?" Ino asked.

He couldn't remember if he'd ever played one and squinted at her with his good eye. "What about them?"

She rolled her eyes. "If I can't actually hit you, beating the shit out of your character in a game might be an okay substitute, duh."

Kakashi considered this. That actually sounded… okay. "Where would we go?"

"Naruto's place?" Ino suggested. "He's away and he's got the right sort of games."

"Naruto's place is a hellhole of filth."

"I _know_ that," Ino said, with exaggerated patience. "Which means Sakura's not going to look for us there."

"All right," he agreed, because that reasoning really was sound. "You're on. We're going to have to sneak out though. We're not allowed to leave here, remember?"

Ino rolled her eyes again. "As if they could keep us here."

They couldn't.

(And playing the games, though Kakashi would never admit it, turned out to be extremely cathartic.)

* * *

"I'm going to murder them," Sakura said. The room where Kakashi and Ino were supposed to be was empty. She gave it a long, dirty look and then turned and stormed down the hall.

Haruno Miki swanned along behind her indignant daughter with a faint smile on her face. "They're ninja, sweetheart. They don't like being stuck in place."

"I know that," Sakura snapped. "But they promised to try."

"I think they are trying," Miki said calmly, with a reproving look. "They had to have worked together to get out of the room and last week they spent time together."

"Trying to kill one another!"

Miki shrugged slightly. "And you were just threatening to kill them," she said, repressing a smile ruthlessly. "I'm not a ninja but that seems to be how ninja react."

She doesn't particularly care for that but she'd made her peace with her daughter's way of life years ago and her unease didn't show.

Sakura's shoulders slumped. "What if they actually kill each other? Like, not just hyperbolically?"

"I don't think they will," Miki said reassuringly. "After all, they know you don't want them to."

"That was more reassuring before last week," Sakura muttered but didn't shrug away when Miki hugged her. "I just want them to get along."

"You can't _make_ anyone get along," Miki said softly. "They know you want them to and they showed up for the second meeting when neither of them wanted to."

Sakura looked vaguely guilty.

"You didn't," Miki said, softly reproachful. "Oh, Sakura, no wonder they're resentful if you're blackmailing them into keeping trying."

"It's too late to change it now," Sakura said mulishly, which reminded Miki of the worst of the teenage years.

"Yes," Miki said, a note of censure in her voice, "you've made your bed and will have to lie in it."

Sakura looked down. "I know," she said miserably. "That's what I'm scared of. What if I mucked it up?"

"Then you have."

Sakura stopped and looked at her, rather chagrined. "I'm whining, aren't I?"

Miki smiled. "A bit, dear, but it's to be expected. You love them and they don't get along."

"They hate each other," Sakura corrected. "Passionately." Her green eyes were troubled. "But I don't know why. I've never gotten a straight answer out of either of them."

"No?"

Sakura shook her head as they made their goodbyes to the owners of the tea house. Miki, secure in her knowledge that her daughter will answer, waits patiently until they're back outside and walking down one of the side streets, a smile on her face.

"No," Sakura said thoughtfully. "I've had rhyme and verse on how irritating Ino is and how awful and aggravating Kakashi is but nothing that would stir up such… feeling."

Miki ruthlessly suppressed another smile. "What if I told you that I know why they hate each other?"

"I don't believe you," Sakura said but with enough doubt in her voice to express that maybe, maybe she did and just didn't want to admit it.

"That's alright," Miki allowed, checking the traffic on both sides of the street before beginning to cross. "I'll tell you what I know when you do."

"That's not fair!" Sakura protested, hurrying to keep up with her. "Mom, I'm trying to make this be a solved problem, not perpetuate it."

"I know." Miki draped one arm comfortingly across Sakura's shoulders. "But you're too close to being the problem for you to solve it. You've told them you want it fixed and you've arranged for meeting times and places and," with a side-long look, "you've blackmailed or bribed them into meeting. I think you've done enough, Sakura. Let them work it out."

Sakura sighed disconsolately as her shoulders slumped. "You're just repeating yourself, even I can see it—you think I need more patience."

"As long as you need to hear it again, I'm willing to repeat it," Miki promised, laughing softly. "That's what a mother does."

Sakura laughed. "That's what I'm afraid of, Mom."

But, after that, Miki noted that Sakura stayed out of the meetings, except for continuing to arrange them. No more showing up at the tea house, or looking for them.

It was a step in the right direction.

And Miki would never turn down more time with her daughter, since her daughter inevitably wound up seeking her out while her most precious people were meeting.

* * *

Kakashi was somewhat dismayed to discover, after a few weeks of Ino and him fighting their way through Naruto's game collection that he was better at the button-mashing all-out battlers while Ino was better at the ones that required strategy.

He felt like it should be the other way around.

"I win," Ino crowed triumphantly as his character died (again). She pinned him with a blue-eyed stare. "You weren't even trying that time, dog."

"I wasn't," he said amiably, since it was the truth. "I was thinking that Naruto's not going to let us keep breaking into his apartment when he gets back from his training in Suna."

Ino made a face at him. The apartment around them was cleaner than it had been the first time they'd broken into it. The cleaning had started slowly; first the trash around the TV and gaming systems, then the bathroom, and then the kitchen.

The bedroom, they had decided by mutual non-discussion, had been thoroughly ignored. Their one concession the bedroom's existence had been to shut the door leading into it firmly.

"I suppose not," Ino conceded grudgingly. "Though he's still going to know someone was in here. It'd be pretty hard to not and even though he's clueless it's hard to not spot the missing piles of trash."

Kakashi nodded.

"What are we going to do next then?" Ino asked. "I came up with this idea. You come up with the next one and I'll tell you all the ways it sucks."

He glowered at her. "You're too kind."

"I get that all the time," she said without a hint of shame and glanced at the clock. "We've got time for one more before I've got to run. What game? I'll kick your ass."

Just for that, he picked a button-masher. Her outrage when she lost was like music to his ears.

"But seriously," she said, later when they've evacuated Naruto's apartment, "what are we going to do? I can't be seen in public with you."

"Ouch."

She rolled her eyes. "You read porn in public. Not the sort of company I want to be seen keeping."

"I _am_ marrying Sakura," he pointed out, a bit of acid in his voice.

"I know," she replied, her face unreadable. "That's why I _am_ being seen in your company."

Kakashi wanted to retort to that and had several pithy things to say when he abruptly realized that, in a way, she'd just told him her entire motivation.

She'd _trusted_ him with it.

Kakashi let the retorts he had in mind die unspoken and instead shrugged languidly. "I don't know what we should do next," he said. "I'll let you know."

Ino nodded. "When is Naruto due back?"

"Next week," Kakashi said. "Knowing him, it'll be any day now. Or not at all."

"He can't do anything normally." Ino sounded almost amused.

Kakashi couldn't argue—she was right.

She continued, "I'll keep a look out for your message."

Then she was gone in a swirl of smoke and leaves.

Kakashi shoved his hands in his pockets and then, thinking better of it, disappeared the same way.

* * *

Sakura arrived home from her latest shift at the hospital, feeling weary and wrung out, to Kakashi sprawled out on her couch reading Icha Icha Violence. "Hey," she said, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek. "No mission?"

"I leave tomorrow," he said, pulling his mask down to give her a better greeting. "I shouldn't be gone too long. It's a simple in-and-out."

She nodded and wriggled onto the couch with him. His arm snaked around her waist and she smiled slightly. He wouldn't give her any more information—and she had no idea what in-and-out in this case actually meant-but he didn't consider it dangerous.

Which didn't mean it wasn't-but some of Kakashi's ego is entirely justified.

"I'll miss you," she said.

Kakashi smiled slightly. "I know. I'll miss you too."

It didn't even cross her mind to ask him to promise he'd come back. There was no way that a jounin could ever promise that and mean it and she didn't want to make him be a liar. Not about that. Making him promise would almost feel like she was laying a curse on him.

She loved him too much for that.

"Are you all ready to go?" Sakura asked instead. "If you are, we could go out for supper, if you'd like?"

"I do like," Kakashi said and sat up, his arm still around her. "Where did you want to go?"

"There's a new place that Ino mentioned," Sakura said. "It sounds pretty nice."

He was silent for a moment and then nodded. "All right," Kakashi said. "We'll go where Ino thinks is suitable for you."

Sakura's eyes narrowed slightly. "What does that mean?"

Kakashi smiled. "Exactly what I said," he said easily. "You don't think she told you about the place with me in mind, did you?"

She squirmed slightly. "Not really," she admitted. "But that's not a bad thing, is it?"

"Not a bad thing," Kakashi said agreeably. "Just a thought."

Sakura supposed she could handle the thought.

"How are you and Ino getting along?" Sakura asked even as she wondered if she ought to be asking. Her mom said to leave it alone and give it time… but it was weird if she didn't ask at all, right?

And Sakura firmly believed that her curiosity would eat her alive if she didn't know even a little about the whole situation.

Kakashi frowned slightly, pulling up his mask. "We haven't killed each other yet," he said. "That's like progress, right?"

"Not really," Sakura said a bit plaintively.

He laughed and kissed her cheek as he got up. "She really loves you," he said. "She's insufferable and bad-tempered and appallingly avoidant at answering questions."

Sakura knew all of that. She waited, hoping he'd tell her more.

"I think I know why you like her though," he said thoughtfully, closing his book with a snap.

"You do?"

He just waved the question off and picked up the phone to make a reservation at the restaurant she wanted to try.

Except that… Sakura stared. She never told him the name of the restaurant. _Ino_ must have told him. Ino was the one that had recommended it to _her_, after all! That meant that… they were _talking_-at least a little bit.

She decided to drop the questions for the time being. Progress was being made and that news made her ridiculously happy. When Kakashi got off the phone, she pulled him into a kiss that turned into more and they wound up being a little late for their reservation.

Neither of them minded.

Sakura beamed sunnily all through their dinner and the evening that followed and even when Kakashi woke her up the next morning at godawful o'clock to kiss her goodbye, she flopped back into bed still cheerful, irrepressibly so.

When the clock ticked to four in the morning, she gave up smiling at her ceiling in favour of reaching for the phone to call Ino.

Ino answered on the second ring, sounding wide-awake. "Do you know what time it is, Forehead?"

"I love you," Sakura said.

Ino was silent for a moment then said, "Oh god, what do you want _now?_"

Sakura laughed. "I mean it," she insisted. "Are you busy today?"

"That depends," Ino said. "What do you want me to be unbusy for?"

She debated the merits of arguing that 'unbusy' wasn't a word with Ino but gave it up in favour of laughing some more. "Nothing bad," Sakura promised. "Breakfast. Shopping. Possibly a movie."

"There _is_ a new Ito Ryouma flick out," Ino mused. "It promises all the things I like. I'll meet you in ten."

* * *

The voice that echoed in Sakura's dreams was and wasn't her own.

It doesn't come to her with dire warnings and terrible portents, not the way dreams in the fairy tales her mother used to read her always did. Instead, it told her stories. Long, chatty ones with laughter, like she and the voice that wasn't (quite) hers were old, good friends that hadn't seen each other in a while and were catching up.

At one point Sakura felt like they were drinking tea, though nothing concrete came of that feeling before it was gone and it was just the voice, friendly and talkative going on and on and on.

Most of the words fell on her ears and faded away without ever being fully understood. It would bother her, except that in dreams like this, it never did. She'd been having these dreams since before she could walk, before she could remember them ever starting, and Sakura knew it was just a matter of time before the almost-her got to the point. She'd _remember_ the point.

She wasn't in, truth be told, because the voice was comforting and soothing, and if it had something to tell her, then there was time enough to fix it.

That was the one constant of the voice and the dreams: there was always time to fix what they thought should be handled.

When they've had tea and talk enough to be sated on, warm, soft hands clasp her cheeks, and lips that burned like a contained fire blazed against her forehead.

Sakura woke up with the words the voice, the almost-her, wanted her to hear, sounding in her ears. Rolling over, sheets tangling and trapping her legs, Sakura reached for her journal and swiftly wrote down the words that, even now, echoed in her mind.

Once they're written down, the words fade, and she was left with only her notes. Sakura rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, touched the page and read aloud softly, "The world of hatred and materialism will end on December 21, and with it the end of fear, in this day mankind will have to choose between disappearing as a thinking species that threatens to destroy the planet or move towards the harmonious integration with the whole universe, understanding and becoming aware of everything is alive and we are part of that whole and that we exist in a new era of light…"

Because was more confusing than her dreams usually were, Sakura read it again. Then a third time to make sure.

The precise date was unusual, though it gave her time enough to do… whatever needed to be done.

She still had three weeks.

It was clear from the wording that 'harmonious integration' was what she was supposed to shoot for. Sakura puzzled over the wording then, giving up, got out of bed, showered, and dressed for the day.

Then she picked up the journal and went to find her mother. It was a bit disheartening but, in some things, her mom still knew better than she did.

It was progress, in a way, that she could admit that. A few years ago, she wouldn't have been able to, stuck on her own pride and trying to be an adult when the adult thing to do, all along, had been to go and ask for help when she didn't understand.

Well, now she didn't understand this and she was older now. Asking for help wasn't easy—but it wasn't nearly as hard as it used to be. She could do it.

* * *

Outside, a brisk wind billowed, tugging golden and rust-red leaves off of trees and scattering them in the air. The nights were touched lightly with frost and children were getting excited for the holidays that marked the end of one year and the beginning of the next.

Inside, Haruno Miki stirred honey into her tea and listened as Sakura told her of her dream. Sakura's tea was untouched in front of her but Miki didn't begrudge her that—Sakura was busy, talking..

"What do you think it means?" Sakura asked her, green eyes troubled.

Miki smiled at her gently. "May I see the wording?"

Sakura handed over the book without hesitation. Miki valued the implicit trust in the act knowing that Sakura trusted her to not look at any of the other pages. Which she wouldn't, in any case.

The words matched what Sakura said, which didn't surprise, Miki.

Truth be told, the dream didn't particularly surprise Miki either. She looked back up at Sakura, who had progressed to fidgeting and trying not to, with her tea cup. "Drink," she suggested mildly. "It will do you no good to just let it grow cold. A bit of warmth may be what you need."

For the beginning of December, it was cool out. There was no snow, but then snow fell in Konohagakure no Sato rarely anyway. Sakura was wearing her usual outfit, almost a uniform, and Miki wondered if she ought to suggest her daughter might like to try wearing a coat.

But no, she knew that shinobi handled it differently and noticed the cold less than civilians.

And Sakura was terribly, terribly touchy about her pride and capability as a shinobi. Miki has never doubted her but Sakura has struggled with doubting _herself_ and that left a mark more complicated than any tattoo upon Sakura's heart.

So Miki let the lack of proper clothing go, though perhaps she'd knit Sakura a scarf for the holidays. Something in green and blue-soothing colours and ones that go well with her hair.

"I'm not a child," Sakura muttered, but took a sip of her tea anyway.

"You're _my_ child," Miki corrected her. "No matter how old you may grow."

Sakura sighed but smiled. "I'll remember that," she promised. "What do you think of the dream?"

"Something is going to happen," Miki said, ignoring the way that Sakura opened her mouth, no doubt to tell her that she already knew that. "Given the scope of your previous dreams, I would guess that this dream also concerns Hatake-san and Ino-chan."

Sakura's eyes grew troubled. "That would mean that this is it. Either they… get along, or they're never going to."

"Which do you think is more likely?" Miki asked, not offering an opinion on which way she thought it might fall.

Sakura shook her head and sipped her tea. "I'm not sure," she admitted, looking pained. "I think they get along better now. They're talking some, at least, but I don't know that I'd say they're friends. I haven't tried to hang out with both of them at once. Not when I'm unsure where they stand. And...," Sakura hesitated a moment before carrying on, "I'm pretty sure that they're unsure where they stand too. Kakashi gets information and suggestions on restaurants from Ino, and Ino gets... I don't know what she gets but she seems less vicious about him."

"Those are good signs, aren't they?" Miki wondered. They sounded rather good to her. "If they can be civil then perhaps they will manage to muddle along well enough without causing you undue stress."

"I don't want to settle," Sakura confessed. "I'm greedy. I want them to get along so I never have to worry or concern myself with the fact that they might not want to be near each other."

"At least you know that's greedy," Miki said, with a smile to take the sting from her words. "It may never happen."

Sakura laughed and shook her head. "Honestly? That's what I'm afraid of."

They fell silent for a bit, Miki drank her tea while Sakura leaned over to reclaim her notebook and flipped through the pages idly. It was a peaceful silence for all that they hadn't managed to figure out the dream. Some dreams only made sense after everything, though. Miki knew that.

"Do you think that if they do not get along well that something will go wrong?" Miki asked, finally, once her first cup of tea was finished and she'd made a good start on the second cup.

Her daughter stopped, then finished turning the page, and looked up. "Yeah," she said, "that's what I'm worried about. I mean, it talks about destroying the planet and if you're right… then I'm that planet. If it all goes wrong, what happens to me?"

"I don't know," Miki said, knowing that was cold comfort for Sakura. "But whatever happens, remember that you are not powerless. You can change things too. Even if the end result is something that Ino-chan and Kakashi have to work out for themselves, you are not an insignificant piece of the puzzle. You have capacity and agency and can make your own moves."

Sakura dropped her gaze to her lap. "I thought I wasn't supposed to interfere."

"There is a difference between interfering and trying to make people be friends with one another and saving yourself," Miki pointed out calmly. "I am strongly against you meddling in the nascent potential friendship between Ino-chan and Kakashi-kun. If they are to be friends, they must do it themselves. That being said, sweetheart, if something is a danger to you, I would never want you to just lie down and take it-I would, and do, want you to fight. It is an entirely different matter."

From the expression on Sakura's face, Miki knew that her daughter was unconvinced by this. "What do you think I should do for now?"

"It's too early to say you _need_ to fight," Miki said meditatively. "And nothing is out of the ordinary in your life, is it?"

Sakura thought about it, carefully, and then shook her head. "Kakashi's on a mission and Ino's been running around doing-something. It's just been the hospital for me, like usual."

From experience, Miki knew not to ask what Ino-chan's 'something' might be.

"Then keep watch," Miki counselled. "Let Kakashi and Ino-chan fumble towards friendship on their own. Do not interfere unless something happens that also touches on you. I think that is all you can do for now, Sakura."

Sakura nodded, finished her tea, and sighed. "I want to argue but I can't. I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Of course, sweetheart."

"Did you want another cup of tea?" Sakura asked. "I think I'll get something to eat."

Miki smiled. "I'd be delighted to join you. Tell me of your work at the hospital."

Sakura took great comfort in her mother's words and, when she left the tea house, kissed her on the cheek, and made plans for meeting up in a week, schedules permitting, to further talk about Sakura's visions. She headed out with a light step and a lighter heart.

Next week, she had little to report: Kakashi and Ino were still dancing around each other, friendship an ephemeral thing that wound around them but Sakura couldn't tell if it was taking or if they were just toying with it in anticipation of discarding it.

Her mother, at the end of their tea, ruffled her hair, kissed her forehead, and reminded her that she shouldn't worry too much.

The next week went by much the same and Sakura started to feel panicky because December twenty-first was coming up terribly, terribly fast and she still had no idea what was going to make or break the world. Make or break herself, especially not in regards to Ino and Kakashi.

Tea that week was spent with her mother consoling her as they both reread the vision that had named the twenty-first of December as a significant one. Sakura was agitated; her mother was a soothing balm.

The week after that, three days before the date, Sakura was quietly melting down. Kakashi was out of town on a mission, Ino was doing something for her father (and Sakura hadn't even asked if it was poisons, flowers, or intelligence related) and the only good, bright spot in her day was her meeting with her mother.

When she left her mother, her mother gave her a smile and stayed behind to chat with the wait staff.

Haruno Miki never made it home that night.


	2. Part II

**Title:** Dream On (Dreamer), Part II  
**Rating:** T  
**Words:** 12, 210 (6,300~ in this post)  
**Summary:** It really was too bad that prescient dreams didn't come with a guidebook. AU. KakaSaku.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_. Kishi does.  
**Notes:** This fic fills **hukomuyo**'s prompt for Wishlist 2012. It also fills the "planet destruction" square on my Hurt/Comfort Bingo card, the "safe" square on my Cotton Candy Bingo card, and the "matchmaker" square on my Trope Bingo card.

* * *

Sakura listened to the chuunin, one of the ones who took care of intra-village safety (which the Uchiha used to do, though no one called it a police force any longer) numbly.

Nothing in her mother's home, the home Sakura had grown up in, was out of place. It was dreadfully empty without her mom in it.

"No," Sakura said absently, in response to a question about if her mother had been acting differently. "She was great."

The only reason people had noticed her missing so soon was that Haruno Miki was not known for missing work—especially not when she had an important client coming in that day to discuss matters. That client had raised the alarm. Sakura didn't know who it had been and she didn't care.

She was just grateful they had.

She answered more questions, but her heart wasn't in it. (She was the last known person to have spent significant time with her mom, outside of the wait staff.)

Her heart was busy breaking into a million pieces.

They'd been stupid, _so_ stupid. Her visions had _told_ her something was going to happen, something that would chance destroying the world. (Herself.)

Sakura knew, now, that they'd focused too much on the obvious source of tension (Kakashi and Ino) and not enough on the _other_ things that could break her just as easily.

_They took my mom!_

Under the numbness, anger boiled.

"Hey there," Ino said, her voice bright and cheerful and as cutting as a winter's storm wind. It was directed at the chuunin. "I'm taking over here on orders of the Hokage."

The chuunin didn't argue with Ino, after one look at her face, and disappeared.

"You need to calm down," Ino said.

"I am calm," Sakura said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Absolutely."

"No, seriously," Ino insisted, catching Sakura's arm. "Look, you're so angry that I can't trace her. You're obliterating my attempts. _Calm down._ Being angry won't help."

Sakura stared at Ino for a long moment, feeling like she'd either been doused in ice water, or kicked in the gut, and unable to decide which she preferred. Then she closed her eyes and began counting backwards from a thousand in fives.

Ino let go of her arm and stepped away. Sakura could feel her wandering through the house, Ino's chakra an icy, electric blue—sharp and deadly and gorgeous—against her senses. Sakura breathed deeply and tried to let the anger go.

It wasn't easy.

It was easy enough to say, but every time she tried and got close to damping down her helpless rage and tangled guilt for having been wrong, the fact that her mom was missing just made everything come crashing back down around her ears.

Eventually (Sakura didn't know how long) Ino came back downstairs.

"Better," she said approvingly.

"I don't _feel_ better," Sakura admitted.

"Well, no, and your anger hasn't gone away-but you're thinking about it now," her oldest friend said patiently, "rather than it doing the thinking for you. I can work with that."

Sakura swallowed, told herself to pull her shit together because she was a kickass kunoichi and whoever took her mom was going to _die_, and asked, "Do you really think you can find her?"

(Ino had never lied to her.)

"It's not that easy," Ino said. Her voice was gentle. "If I just drop my shields, I'm going to be hearing everyone in the village. That's almost impossible to tune out entirely. However, given that I'm good friends with you and your mind will resonate with your mother's, I'll find her. It's just going to take a while. I _will_ find her."

"But she'll be scared," Sakura said, grasping at straws. "She's probably upset. Wouldn't that help?"

Ino's expression went peculiarly closed off. "A lot of people are scared and upset all the time," she said, when the silence ached. "It won't help at all to focus on that."

Sakura wondered how much pain Ino heard every day. She'd never thought of that before.

(Maybe she should have.)

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked, instead of apologizing. Ino hated apologies. "To make my mind resonate with my mother's more?"

"Think about her," Ino said. "That's all."

"Do you… can you…," Sakura hesitated then asked all in a rush, "Can you tell if she's still alive? Even if you can't locate her?"

"You still resonate with her," Ino said quietly. "That means she's still alive. I'd notice if you didn't. Picture an elastic band snapping—that's what it would be like, if she died. You wouldn't feel like that but it'd be noticeable to my family."

"Okay," Sakura said as her eyes filled with tears. "Okay."

"Yo," Kakashi said from the door. "What's—Why is Sakura crying?"

"I'm _not_," she protested, dashing away the few tears that were making a liar out of her.

"Haruno Miki went missing sometime between six and seven last night," Ino answered.

When Kakashi slung an arm comfortingly over her shoulders, Sakura leaned into him, ignoring all the dirt and grime and dried blood that were the proof he'd been out on a mission.

"Ino's going to find her," Sakura said.

Kakashi looked down at her for a long moment, then at Ino speculatively.

(They weren't friends. Sakura knew that.)

"Need a hand?" he asked.

(And she wondered if maybe that was changing.)

* * *

Haruno Miki woke up in the dark, alone, and cold. She was shaken, bruised, and worried.

She was not, however, _confused._

Her own dreams had told her something was coming. Miki looked around, barely making out the shape of a door in the lightless room, and knew this was the beginning of both her dreams and Sakura's.

Miki gathered her serenity around her, marvelled that she wasn't tied up, carefully stood, and began looking for a way out.

She didn't expect to find one that she could exploit—she'd never had any shinobi training at all—but that was no excuse for not trying.

* * *

"You sure?" Ino asked coolly.

Sakura _hoped._

Kakashi nodded.

"Well, alright," Ino said, and relief and fierce, bright gladness explosively bubbled up under Sakura's anxiety for her mother. "I suppose your dogs have to be good for something."

It should have been insulting. Sakura was fairly certain that it _was_ insulting.

She glanced up at Kakashi, only to find him smiling, very slightly.

It wasn't _that_ insulting, apparently.

"They do," Kakashi said mildly, in a tone of voice Sakura had never heard before. "Of course, they do real work, unlike you. What sort of ninja just stands around and thinks things over getting stuff done?"

Ino grinned at him. It was a tight, sharp grin. It was also (genuinely) amused. Sakura felt like she'd missed a page out of a book that both of them had read. "The best kind of ninja, _duh_." Then she made shooing motions at him. "Go let your dogs earn their kibble. Chop chop."

"Don't be ridiculous," Kakashi said, pressing a quick kiss to Sakura's hair. She tried to smile up at him, but it came out weak. He kissed her hair again, squeezing her tight, before letting her go.  
"Everyone knows that you give dogs treats if they do good. Kibble is so they don't mutiny because I'm starving them."

"Whatever," Ino said dismissively. "Just be in touch."

He glanced at them both, shrugged, and said, "That's your job, isn't it?"

Then he was gone, in a swirl of leaves and smoke. Ino scoffed.

"What _was_ that?" Sakura demanded.

Ino blinked at her. Innocently. "We always talk to each other like that."

"_Why?_"

That just earned her a shrug. "It's the closest thing that works to for us," Ino said, tilting her head slightly. "You should just be glad it works, Forehead. Come on, sit down, and I'll try to find your mom."

Sakura willingly dropped her questions for that. She sat down at the dining room table, swallowing hard at the thought that her mom might not ever have another meal at it, and sternly told herself that she wasn't allowed to cry.

Not until it was over.

Ino waited for her to get settled. She made no comment on her thoughts, though Sakura knew her oldest friend was undoubtedly hearing all of them.

"Is it going to hurt?" Sakura asked quietly.

"A bit of a zing, maybe," Ino replied, her voice just as quiet. "My chakra… well, you know what it feels like."

Sakura smiled faintly. Like a lightning storm. She had always suspected that if chakra had a smell, Ino's would carry a sharp tang of ozone. "Got it," she said, bobbing her head as Ino stepped around behind her. "I can handle that."

"You can handle anything you decide to handle," Ino scolded, smacking her head, but gently, so that Sakura barely felt it.

When Ino's fingers touched Sakura's temples, she felt _that_. "Your hands are cold," she complained.

"Sorry," Ino said, not sounding sorry at all. "You won't notice that for long."

What was she supposed to notice then? She thought about asking but Sakura trusted Ino. Whatever happened, it would be okay—at least, for her it would be.

"Just think about my mom, right?"

"Yeah," Ino said, her fingers burning cold against Sakura's skin. "Ready?"

Sakura breathed in deeply, closed her eyes, and began thinking of her mother. It was easy to come up with things to think about. First, the panic and aching fear that left her feeling brittle inside. Those were the foremost emotions, right now. She prayed her mom was alright. Alive didn't mean healthy, but she hoped it did.

She thought about the way her mom had looked the day before. Her mom had been happy and the smile she'd left Sakura with had been one that Sakura had seen every day for most of her life.

Thinking about her mom's smile opened a floodgate of memories. Some of the memories were very old, some of them far more recent. Sakura remembered her first day of school at the Academy. She'd been scared but her mom hadn't been scared at all even though she hadn't been a ninja and most of the parents there had been.

She remembered her mom wrapping her up in a tight, breathless hug, when Sakura had come home crying after Naruto and Sasuke had nearly managed to kill her on the roof of the hospital—and hadn't even noticed what they'd almost done.

Ino's fingers no longer felt cold. Sakura hardly noticed them at all, being too deep in her memories to care about what happened outside of them.

Halfway through a memory of her mom treating a skinned knee in a playground and her mother soothing her tears away, the memory _twisted_ and faded away sharply.

Sakura looked around.

She stood in what looked like a dark room, though Ino's chakra crackled and burned the air around her, providing illumination. Sakura reached for the doorknob and frowned. Her hand was much smaller than usual. An inspection of the rest of herself proved that _she_ was smaller than usual.

_No,_ Sakura thought, _not smaller. Younger_.

It meant Ino was getting somewhere. This had happened before, back when she'd let Ino practice on her.

_Good_. Sakura took hold of the doorknob firmly, turned it, and pushed it open. She stepped into what looked like a hallway and, seeing nothing she could interact with, followed the brilliant trail laid down by Ino's chakra.

Sakura wandered aimlessly, following the electric blue that was Ino's energy, and opened more doors and walked more hallways. There was never a way out but, then, she wasn't looking for one.

And neither was Ino.

Several times she climbed stairs, both up and down, and made sure to think of her mother while doing so. When she did, Ino's chakra glowed more feverishly.

She didn't know how much time passed when, abruptly, Sakura blinked and found herself seated at her table again.

Ino stepped over to the nearest chair and sank down into it.

Sakura struggled with herself, then blurted out, "Did you find-?"

Ino hesitated a long moment and Sakura's heart dropped like a rock. "You didn't, did you?" she asked.

"No," Ino said, glancing at her. "But I found _something_."

"What?"

"I need to think about it," Ino said, almost gently. "I'll let you know when I know."

"But I could-"

"No."

Sakura took a deep breath, reminded herself forcibly that Ino wouldn't say no without having a good reason and that she wasn't going to be a child about this. It didn't help much. She took another breath and asked, "Why?"

(She was proud of the way her voice held steady.)

Ino stood and stretched. "Because I don't think it had anything to do with her," she said, frowning thoughtfully. "I need to go look into a few things but, if I'm right-"

Sakura flinched at the sound of a knock on the door. She stood hastily. "I'll get it," Sakura said, "but don't you dare leave without finishing what you were saying."

"Would I do that?"

"Yes," Sakura said. "So don't you _dare_."

Ino muttered something under her breath that Sakura didn't catch as she hurried to the door, hoping it was someone with news—good news.

No one was at the door.

She frowned and looked around. No one looked like they were paying any attention to her. No one looked like they might have come near her door. Stepping outside, she froze at the sound of paper crinkling.

Sakura picked it up and, with another wary glance at the usual crowds, brought it back inside. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it, and with shaking fingers, unfolded the note.

In block letters it read:

_If you want her back, you'll say no._

_Say no to what?_ she thought desperately. Was she supposed to pretend she didn't want her mother back?

Ino snatched the note out of her hands, reading it in a glance. "Bingo," Ino muttered. "I thought that was going to happen."

"That's what you meant?" Sakura asked, taking the note back. "That it wasn't about my mom?"

"Ransom's never about the person kidnapped," Ino said absently. "It's always about the person who they're important to."

"Do _you_ know what this means?" she demanded. "Ino, tell me! _What am I supposed to say no to?_"

"Did _both_ of you have to touch that?" Kakashi asked, walking down the hall to join Ino. He levelled a look at Ino that was unfriendly. "That's what you called me back to track, isn't it?"

"Get to it, dog," Ino said pleasantly. "I've got my own trail to chase."

"You know better than to touch things you want someone to track," Kakashi retorted. "I'm not an Inuzuka."

"Should I fetch one of them, then?" Ino wondered. "If you're not up for the job?"

"Would both of you _shut up_ and tell me what's going on?" Sakura snapped. "This is my mother's life you're playing around with."

They looked at her, then at each other, before Ino sighed. "We're not playing, Forehead. We're not even really arguing either."

"I hate to say it," Kakashi said, slipping past Ino to stand by Sakura. She noticed that he'd taken long enough to change clothing and no longer smelled like a corpse. "But I agree with Ino."

"None of this is helping," Sakura said. "You're either going to help me find my mother, or get out of my way."

"Like I said," Ino said, "I've got a train to chase down. You good for taking over here, dog?"

"I've been doing this since before you were born. Get out."

"We'll find her," Ino promised Sakura. "I'll see you in a bit."

"What—"

But Ino had already gone. Sakura turned to Kakashi, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you going to explain anything?"

Kakashi reached for the note and plucked it out of her hand. She let him, since he'd be able to do more with it than she could. "What's there to explain?" he asked, sniffing the note and making a face at it.

"What does the note mean I've got to say no to?"

"A Christmas present you're getting," he said, blinking at her with one eye. "Ino's not really supposed to know, but it doesn't surprise me that she _does_, come to think of it. Yamanaka are a pain in the ass."

"How am I supposed to say no to something I don't even know I'm getting?" Sakura demanded. "That doesn't even make sense."

"They probably can't believe you don't know it's coming," Kakashi mused. "I'm sort of impressed you haven't heard anything about it, actually."

"About _what?_"

He studied her. "I know several people who will be very put out with me for telling you, since it was supposed to be a surprise, but in this case… it's important for you to know now. Tsunade-sama is planning on announcing her successor on Christmas Day, Sakura. You're it."

Sakura blinked as her mind stuttered to a halt. "_What?_"

"Unless you refuse, you're going to be the Rokudaime Hokage," Kakashi said, smelling the paper again. "Let me be the first to congratulate you."

She stared at him. "What—I thought, I mean, _Naruto's_ always the one who wanted it. And Tsunade-shishou loves him. I thought it would be…"

"Naruto is still a genin," Kakashi said, his voice not giving away what he thought of that. "Furthermore, he is rarely in the village, and while he is a powerful asset in battle, he lacks the necessary qualities to be a good Hokage. Besides, Tsunade-sama loves you too, Sakura. Is it really that hard to believe? You're strong, clever, and well-liked."

Her mind raced.

"Not well liked by everyone," she said, her eyes blazing. "Not if they're going around taking my mom before I even find out about my… my… promotion."

"Well… no."

"I will destroy them," Sakura said furiously. "Can you track them with that?"

"I'll try," he said. "But there's a lot of other scents that'll complicate matters."

She nodded, thinking hard. "We can't afford to make a big deal out of this, can we?" Sakura didn't wait for him to answer her. "That's why Ino showed up so quickly and got rid of the chuunin. And that's why no one else has shown up."

"Probably," Kakashi agreed. "Though I'm sure they didn't plan on my showing up either."

"But you're okay," she said, sure it was true. "We're engaged. No one would think anything of it if I'm walking the village with you. Or with Ino."

Was this the best help that Tsunade-shishou could send her?

"What sort of message would it send if the Hokage's successor couldn't even keep her mother safe?" Kakashi asked dryly. "That's probably what your detractors would say if a big deal was made out of this. You _could_ raise a fuss, but…"

She scowled. "I get it."

Sakura didn't _like_ it, but she got it. She'd been watching Tsunade-shishou play political games of one-man-up-ship for years. This was more of the same, though it hurt worse, now that it was personal.

"I'm coming with you," she said, taking a deep breath, "and we'll go looking for mom. There's no point in raising a fuss. They probably won't do anything to her until I'm formally asked, right? They'll wait to see what I'll say then."

"Most likely."

"And Ino will be looking for them too," she said, though she wondered what Ino had gone to track down in such haste. Sakura tilted her head up at Kakashi, eyes narrowed. "Not to mention, you and she hanging out with me would draw attention. Especially since you two can't stop bickering. I'm not a toy to fight over."

"We don't think that," Kakashi objected.

"Really?" she asked dryly. "Then stop acting that way."

"We can never please you," he muttered, then shook his head. "Shall we go walking?"

Sakura weighed asking him what he meant by _that_ with her mother's life. Her mother's life won easily. (She could always ask later.) "Alright," she said grimly. "But if we find them, I get to pound them first."

"Naturally," he replied and tucked the ransom note away.

* * *

They didn't find her that day or the next, though Sakura was increasingly surprised (though perhaps she shouldn't have been, given how many ninja lived in Konohagakure no Sato) at the number of obscure hiding places and false trails and sheer difficulty that Kakashi had in tracking anything down.

The streets and people and hiding spots blended into a strange mosaic that, even on reflection, made very little sense. When Kakashi suggested a rest, Sakura agreed only reluctantly, and only because she didn't want him to be unable to track out of exhaustion.

When she slept, she didn't dream.

When she woke up, she felt betrayed by her visions. Shouldn't they help her, now that things were so serious? But Sakura suspected that she'd received all the help that she was going to get from them and would have to make do.

She re-read her journal entry, stared at the calendar, and was quietly unsurprised, though discomfited, when Ino's voice rang in their heads on December 21st.

_Found her,_ Ino said, her voice bright. _Am I good or what?_

_Where is she?_ Sakura asked eagerly, new energy brushing away hopelessness. Kakashi rubbed his hands through his hair and tilted his head to the side, listening but saying nothing.

_Transmitting coordinates now._

Sakura grimaced as information flooded her mind, feeling for a moment like she was being shattered and scattered to the wind, before the sensation faded and she was left with the indelible knowledge of her mom's location.

_Thank you,_ she said. _Can you get her out?_

_… do you really need me to answer that?_ Ino asked.

_Just do it,_ Kakashi said, before Sakura could retort. _We'll go and pound their faces in while you get Haruno-san to safety. _

_Is she hurt?_ Sakura added anxiously.

_Bored,_ Ino replied, _and tired, thirsty, and wishful of a bath. She's fine, Sakura. Dog, don't you dare screw this up._

_Never._

Then the sense of Ino being present in their minds was gone and Sakura blinked at Kakashi before flinging herself at him with a giddy laugh. He scooped her up and kissed her gently.

"Come on," he said, "let's get this over with."

"Yeah," she said, a little breathless as he set her down. She tangled her fingers with his. "I'm calling dibs."

"Dibs?"

"On destroying them," she said helpfully. "You can stand back and watch."

"I do like to watch," he said mused. "In several different ways, even. Try not to kill them though. It'll be a hard sell to get you as Hokage if you go around murdering your people before they're even yours."

"Don't be stupid," she said. "I've got to lead them towards harmonious integration. My dreams say so." Sakura grinned at him. It was a mean grin. "Nothing says I can't help it along with my fists though."

"I _do_ love you," he murmured. "Lead the way, O glorious smasher."

* * *

Ino's coordinates led them to what, at one point, had been an ANBU supply warehouse. It was on the outskirts of the village, nestled up against the wall and it looked both decrepit and utterly abandoned.

Sakura knew, from Ino, that both impressions were dead wrong-and enhanced with genjutsu.

She crouched in a tree, observing the building. Kakashi was perched a few trees down, on the other side of the door. She probed the defences carefully and grimaced; they were a complicated tangle of security jutsu.

Far more Ino's thing than hers.

_I'm going in,_ Ino said cheerfully, like thinking of her had summoned her. _Try not to start anything until I'm out. I'd be fine but let's not put Haruno-san in more danger._

Sakura was in complete agreement with that.

_Let us know when you're out,_ she ordered crisply, tugging on her gloves. _Then we're going to get a little_ wild.

* * *

Ino slipped through the wards easily.

_Amateurs,_ she thought dismissively, spooling her chakra through a trap jutsu to convince it that she was supposed to be in the building. _Impressive to look at, but shoddy. This is full of holes._

She found that reassuring as she padded silently down hallways, dodging other ninja, and homing in on Haruno Miki.

It meant that they hadn't been planning this for too long.

_Probably just a couple of weeks,_ she mused. _I'd wager they heard it not long after I did. But who did they hear it from?_

That was going to be the real question, after the dust cleared. She couldn't wait.

Another hallway, a set of stairs trapped to catch the unwary (or the stupid or the untrained), and Ino cheerfully knocked out the man guarding Haruno-san's room before he even realized someone was there.

"Pathetic," she announced. "Ivory tower losers. I bet not a single one of you are anything above chuunin. If you're jounin, everyone in the village should be ashamed of themselves for letting you get that way."

It took her a few seconds to get the door open. "Haruno-san," she greeted cheerfully. "How would you like to relocate to a nicer establishment?"

* * *

Miki looked up.

It somehow didn't surprise her at all that Ino, ever impractical and chatty and in your face, would also be the same way while working.

"I would like that," she said. "Though aren't you taking this a little lightly, Ino-chan?"

Ino shrugged, kicked the unconscious man out of the way of the door, and grinned at her. "Oh please," she said, "Academy students could take these losers. I don't have to get serious here."

Miki wondered what serious, to Ino, looked like. She also wondered if Ino even realized the insult implicit in her words. (After all, Miki could not have taken out the people who'd kidnapped her and Ino was talking about small children being able to do it.)

She chose not to say anything, instead getting to her feet and brushing skirts straight, though they remained rather rumpled after being worn for several days.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Ino asked. "I told Sakura you weren't, since your thoughts didn't mention any pain."

"I'm not hurt," Miki said, touched by the consideration and creeped out by the invasion of her privacy at the same time. _Ninja_. "Is Sakura here?"

"Oh _yeah_." Ino herded her up the stairs, never too fast for Miki to keep pace but faster than she would have walked on her own, after several days of captivity. "She and her dog-"

"_Ino-chan_."

Ino sighed. "Fine, she and _Hatake_, are waiting until we're out to make these losers very, very sorry that they touched you."

Miki's stomach tightened. "They're not going to kill them, are they?" She didn't want all of those deaths on her conscience.

"No." Miki tried to ignore the way Ino sounded disappointed. Ino gave no sign of noticing as she continued with, "Hatake convinced Sakura that it would be a terrible publicity move given why you were taken hostage in the first place."

"Why _was_ I?" she asked, focusing on that instead of on the hallways that seemed to twist and waver in her vision. They made her feel sick to look at for long. She didn't know how Ino was making her way so carelessly through the building, never pausing or seeming disoriented. Miki swallowed hard, bowed her head, and followed doggedly.

"It's a secret," Ino said brightly, "but since Hatake, that jerk, already told Sakura, I can tell you."

Miki had the strangest feeling that, in a way, Ino was settling some sort of score in her own mind by agreeing to tell. Since she wanted to know, she didn't complain.

(Not that complaining would stop Ino; even when she'd been a child that had been impossible for everyone but Ino's father.)

"They kidnapped you because they wanted Sakura to refuse her upcoming promotion."

"Her promotion?"

"As Rokudaime Hokage!" Ino shoved a door open and, to Miki's relief, it led outside. "Stay here for a moment."

Miki stayed, then winced and turned her face away as Ino engaged in a brief but vicious tussle that ended with Ino untouched and three more shinobi on the ground unconscious.

(She hated violence, even though Ino moved with so much grace that it was like she had wings.)

"Moment over," Ino called.

Miki gingerly stepped outside, wincing at the bright sunlight. She carefully skirted the people Ino had so casually taken out. "Was this really necessary?" she asked, with a note of censure in her voice.

"Yes," Ino said, giving her an incredulous look. "Look, they're still breathing despite that I disagree with Hatake that Sakura shouldn't kill them. I think her killing everyone who did this would send a message loud and clear that you aren't to be touched."

Miki shuddered at the very idea. "I don't want her killing anyone on my behalf."

"So point goes to Hatake," Ino said absently, looking around the area though Miki had no idea what she was looking _for_.

"This isn't about points," Miki said, appalled. "It's about _life_."

"That sounds like a civilian response."

"I _am_ a civilian."

Ino blinked at her and smiled crookedly. "Too bad."

"Ino-chan, you're being rude."

"Sorry," she said unapologetically, "now come on, let's run." Ino grabbed Miki by the arm and towed her across the yard, angling away from the wall.

Miki stumbled and nearly fell. Ino didn't even pause, just pulled Miki up onto her back and kept running.

Ino wasn't even breathing hard as she first hopped a fence and then hopped up onto a building.

(Miki had never realized how strong Ino was.)

"There," Ino said, "Sakura's making her move."

"And me?" Miki asked. "Can I get down now?"

"Nah," Ino said, forming a few seals too fast for Miki to see what they were. "I'll take you home first. You know, you're calm enough that you probably could've made a good ninja, back when you were young enough to be trained."

They disappeared in a hair-raising swirl of smoke and leaves.

Miki had never wanted to be a ninja less.

(She didn't think Ino would understand.)

* * *

_Got her!_ Ino's voice carolled through their minds. Sakura straightened. _We'll be out in a few. She's having a few issues with the genjutsu in the halls but other than nausea, she seems fine._

Sakura sighed, deeply relieved. She glanced over at Kakashi's tree and saw him give her two thumbs up.

She grinned.

The next few minutes passed in agonizing slowness. Sakura held her breath as much as possible, like that would speed up Ino and her mother's passage through the building and out. It didn't help and it didn't really make her feel better either.

Ino would kill to protect her mom, Sakura knew that.

She also knew how dangerous a stray kunai could be in a messy fight.

_And we're out! Heading to your place. I think she's in shock-she hasn't said anything about you becoming Rokudaime, Sakura._

Sakura snorted.

_There will be time to talk about that later, Pig._

_I know,_ Ino sounded unconcerned. _Go and kick ass, Forehead._

* * *

The fight, more accurately described as a rout, was short and Sakura left the building, and the unconscious shinobi who'd dared to take her mother hostage, feeling distinctly unsatisfied.

They hadn't been even remotely a challenge. She hadn't expected much but, somehow, they'd been worse than she'd expected.

(Kakashi's lascivious leer, as she'd pounded faces in, was a balm to her dissatisfaction.)

Kakashi had stayed behind to make sure no one altered the scene.

Sakura took her gloves off, tucked them away, and hesitated for a long moment before grimacing and making her way to the administrative officers rather than home. She wanted nothing more than to talk to her mother, to hug her and cling just a little.

To make sure she was safe.

But Ino had her mother and Sakura trusted Ino. That meant she had to do the right thing and go talk to Tsunade-shishou and inform the Hokage that there were a number of shinobi who needed to be seen to.

And that they needed to talk about a present she was going to accept.

* * *

A week later, Haruno Miki sat across from her daughter, in her airy kitchen. They sipped tea in contented silence until Miki broke it.

"No more dreams?" Miki asked curiously.

Sakura shook her head. "Nothing important," she said. "One about my veil for the wedding. Something about the lace… which, if that's all that goes wrong with my wedding, well, I'll be in good hands." She smiled sunnily. "That's all."

"Are Ino-chan and Kakashi-kun getting along?"

"I don't know." Sakura's smile faded slightly, her face becoming pensive. "I don't think I'm ever going to understand what they've got going on between them."

"You could ask," Miki suggested.

Sakura snorted. "I have, but neither of them answers anything they don't want to answer. I try and they give me a circuitous run-around." She stared into her tea, and then looked up, a bit ruefully. "I suppose it's not any of my business, like you've told me from the start."

"As long as they're not dragging you into it," Miki amended. "If they are, then it is your business."

"No," Sakura said, "they're not. Well, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"I know why they don't like each other now," Sakura sighed. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. They both share _terribly_ and I'm their favourite person."

Miki hid a smile. Yes, that was what she'd noticed a long time, years, ago. "You feel stuck in the middle?"

"I _am_ stuck in the middle," Sakura laughed. "But they're very good at not dragging me into their spats, though god knows what they say and do when I'm not present. I overheard something about points yesterday and made the executive decision that I'm better off not knowing."

Miki _did_ laugh at that. "I can't believe you're appointing them your advisors once you're formally installed as Rokudaime. They're going to drive you mad."

"Mmmhmm," Sakura hummed. "Maybe. But they're both absolutely devoted to me, and dead clever and relentless. No one will be able to sway them."

"Not even if they try and capitalize on their mutual dislike of one another?"

"No," Sakura said, green eyes steady, "not even. Oh, they'll play games and annoy each other and bicker like children, but over the important things? They'll never be corrupted. Never."

That sounded accurate to Miki, though she pitied the councillors who had to deal with Ino and Kakashi in the same room on a regular basis. She strongly suspected that those positions would be seeing a high amount of turnover until everyone got used to the new way things were.

Which, that reminded her. "Have you told Naruto-kun yet?"

Sakura shook her head. "He was supposed to be back weeks ago, but you know him… I sent him a message, but he's still out in Suna. He'll get back when he gets back." She made a face. "Honestly, I'm not looking forward to his reaction. It _will_ hurt his feelings and then again when he finds out that he's not being appointed advisor. It's usually the Hokage's teammates who are appointed, but…"

"But Ino-chan and Kakashi-kun will do a better job?"

"They'll do the best job," Sakura said, looking slightly uncomfortable. "And I'll tell Naruto that. I love him, but he'd be a disaster as an advisor. Maybe in thirty years… if he settles down."

They both silently considered the idea of Naruto settling down. Miki doubted it would happen. She'd never met anyone with more determination to not mature than Naruto.

Sakura perked up. "Oh! Speaking of things unlikely to settle down—did I tell you that Ino's heading up the investigation about who instigated the plot to kidnap you?"

Miki grimaced. She tried not to think about the whole experience. "Is that… wise? Ino-chan was very blasé about the lives of…"

"Oh, that," Sakura said, "it's nothing. Harmonious integration, remember? The ones that actually kidnapped you have all been interrogated and investigated and are very, very repentant now. I think that part of it'll be okay. The world hasn't ended in disaster at all." It pained her to dislike anything about her daughter, but Miki did not like the hardness in Sakura's smile just then. "Ino's after the people who ordered the kidnapping. How they're dealt with will depend on a lot of things."

"You don't sound very concerned," Miki chided gently. "Shouldn't you care about the lives of all your people?"

"It's complicated, Mom," Sakura said, her voice just as gentle. "It's a ninja thing. We'll deal with it."

Miki poured herself another cup of tea and stirred honey into it slowly. "You'll do what's best for your world," she said finally, though she had many misgivings about the treatment the perpetrators would receive. "I have faith in you."

She did.

"Care for a toast?"

Sakura blinked at her, and then smiled, raising her tea cup up to clink against Miki's.

"To your world," Miki said.

"To me," Sakura agreed.

They drank.


End file.
